Name Games, Icebreakers, Energizers, Team-Building, and ...

Diversity:

Activities for Cultivating Community

Name Games, Icebreakers, Energizers, Team-Building, and Closing Activities

These games offer skill-building opportunities that often result in more cohesive groups -- critical to any successful service-learning experience. Not only do they help participants experience and process conflict, but they also foster communication, cooperation, and leadership in safe environments.

For each of these activities, this guide includes basic directions and list any materials needed, followed by ideas to make the experience more challenging and reflection questions to help tie the experience to the real world.

With any game, keep in mind issues of safety -- both physical and emotional. People have different levels of comfort with physical touch and some are unable to participate in the more physical activities. NYLC's philosophy is "challenge by choice" and it is important to let participants know that they may elect out of any activity that pushes them too far out of their comfort zone. Rarely do participants abuse this choice. If someone is opting out of too many activities, discreetly pull the participant aside and discuss what he or she is feeling.

The reflection questions for each activity are intended as suggestions to be adapted. Finding the right balance -- making sure not to either under-reflect or over-reflect -- can be difficult. Young people, in particular, will tune out if they feel overprocessed. Always be mindful of the "temperature" of the group and adjust accordingly.

From Lift: Raising the Bar for Service-Learning Practice.

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Name Games

These games are designed to help group participants learn each other's names, usually through the use of mnemonic devices. As such, they also serve as icebreakers.

Diversity:

Name games do not necessarily need to be processed. Sometimes they can be used simply as a way to get to know names or as an

Activities for Cultivating activity to add energy to the group. Consider what activities follow the game in deciding whether to ask the reflection questions. Community

Movement Name Game Hint: You may want to start the game with an active and creative motion, as the first one will set the tone for the group. If the first movement is an easy thumbs up, the energy of the activity will be low.

Procedure: Ask the group to stand in a circle. The first person says his or her name and adds a movement to go with it. The entire group then says "Hi, _______!" and repeats the motion. Continue around the circle until all participants have had a chance to say their name and add a movement.

Challenge: Speed up the game.

Reflection Questions: Who found this exercise easy? Why? What does the game illustrate about learning that might apply to working with younger children, elders, or those with special needs?

Adjective Name Game Procedure: With the group sitting in a circle, ask participants to think of an adjective that describes an aspect of their personality. The adjective must begin with the same letter as their first name (e.g., elegant Elizabeth, vibrant Vickie, daredevil Dan). The facilitator begins by stating his or her name and an accompanying adjective. The person next to the facilitator then repeats the facilitator's adjective-name combination and adds his or her own. The names and adjectives accumulate as the group goes around the circle.

Challenge: Add a phrase to make the statement a complete sentence. For example, "Elegant Elizabeth wears her prom dress to school." The challenge can go further still, having everyone aim for alliteration such as, "Daredevil Dan danced with his dog until dawn."

Reflection Questions: Do you think it would have been easier or harder just to go around the circle and say people's names? Why? What does that tell us about learning that might apply to working with younger kids, elders, or those with special needs?

Two Truths and a Lie Procedure: Have the group sit in a circle. One at a time, participants introduce themselves with two truths about themselves and one lie. The group then guesses which statement is a lie. The crazier the truths are, of course, the harder it is to discern which are the truths and which is the lie.

Reflection Question: What does this exercise teach us about making assumptions or "judging a book by its cover"? What are the ways that this exercise relates to upcoming service-learning projects?

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Group Name Juggle Materials: Tennis ball or other tossable items (Beanie Babies, rubber chicken,etc.)

Diversity: Procedure: Have all participants stand in a circle, facing inward. The facilitator starts by saying his or her name, and then passes the ball, remembering who the recipieAntcotfitvhiettioessswafso. EracCh upelrtsoinvagettisnthge ball once only, Community and says his or her name loud enough for all to hear. The last person throws the ball back to the facilitator.

Challenge: Once everyone remembers the pattern of who tosses to whom, add more language like, "Here you go, __________!" or "Thank you, _________!" Add more tossable items, one at a time, until chaos ensues. See how many items the group can juggle.

Extra Challenge: Time the group and ask if they can improve their time. Have them discuss possible ways to cut down their time and continue trying. See whether they figure out how to maximize the efficiency by changing their positions in the circle so they are standing next to the person they are throwing to and receiving from.

Reflection Question: With whom might you use this game? For whom would it not work? Why? Do you see other applications for the game? How would you adapt it to a second language-learning group?

Name and... Procedure: With the group sitting in a circle, the facilitator starts this game by establishing a question all participants will answer when they give their names. The questions can be very basic: What is your favorite food? If you were a reptile, what kind would you be? Everyone in turn tries to repeat what all the others said before them.

Challenge: Questions relevant to the upcoming service-learning experience can be used if the group has a basis for familiarity with the issue -- for example, "What do you think is the worst pollution site in the park?"

Reflection Questions: If using the higher-level service-learning-specific questions, ask whether this activity was helpful to the experience to come.

From Lift: Raising the Bar for Service-Learning Practice.

Copyright ? 2010 National Youth Leadership Council. All rights reserved.

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Ice Breakers and Energizers

A bit more involved than name games, ice breakers and energizers work best among group members relatively new to each other. They

are designed to help group members learn about each other and exercise skills relevant to service-learning projects. Most can be done in

10-15 minutes.

Diversity:

Activities for Cultivating These activities do not always need to be processed. Sometimes they can be used simply as a game to get to know each other or as an Community activity to add energy to the group. Be aware of what activities precede and follow these activities when deciding whether to include the

reflection questions.

Arrow Game Materials: Flip chart page containing four rows of arrows facing different directions, including curly arrows.

Procedure: The group stands in rows in front of the flip chart. The facilitator stands next to the flip chart calling out arrow directions, reading arrows from left to right, like reading a text. As the facilitator reads out the direction, the participants point their hands and bodies in the same direction as the arrow.

Challenge: Repeat the exercise, and increase the pace.

Reflection: What was challenging in this exercise? Have you had similar experiences in a classroom setting? What did you do about it? What makes it hard to speak up?

Birthday Line-Up

Hint: This is a good activity before a team-building exercise in which the participants need to be split into groups. It results in a random line from which the participants can count off.

Procedure: The facilitator tells the group members to organize themselves into a line, from youngest to oldest, without talking. The challenge in this activity is for group members to communicate their birthdays without speaking.

Reflection Questions: What was the critical strategy used to make this work? How long did it take you to figure out this strategy? What does this teach us about the power of language? How much faster would the process have gone with language?

Rumpelstiltskin

Procedure: The group brainstorms categories of their favorite pastimes, simple categories such as sports fans, reality T.V. shows, movies, foods. Within each category, there should room for several subcategories. For example, within sports fans, you might have the subcategories of basketball fans, baseball fans, and non-sports fans. In this game, when the facilitator yells "Rumpelstiltskin!" participants choose a subcategory and discuss why they are drawn to that subcategory. This can also be done with something physical dividing the categories, so that participants are moving from one side of a "line" to another.

Challenge: This exercise can be targeted to the social issues underlying a service-learning project and can be used as a pre-reflection activity before the project, helping participants share their concerns or previous experiences. For example, the facilitator might say, "People who have worked with elders before in nursing homes, move to this side of the line. Those for whom this is a new experience, move to the other side of the line." Then the facilitator might ask the groups to talk about their prior experiences or reasons they have had no prior experience.

Reflection Questions: What similarities did you find with your fellow group members? Did you find yourself repeatedly landing in the same category as someone else? How did this make you feel toward that person? How do we learn about people's backgrounds and preferences in real life? Does this exercise make you think differently about question-posing?

From Lift: Raising the Bar for Service-Learning Practice.

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Impulse Circle

Procedure: Stand in a circle, holding hands. The facilitator squeezes the hand of the person on his or her right,

Diversity: sending an impulse around the circle. See how quickly this can be accomplished.

Challenge: After a couple of times around with an impulse, add a second impulse. See if the group can keep the

two going at once.

Activities for Cultivating

Community Reflection Questions: How difficult was this? Why is this exercise challenging? What were the challenges? What

were the distractions? How could you minimize the challenge of this activity? Were you able to make the impulse

move more quickly? If so, what strategies did you use and how were they decided on?

Balloon Bust Materials: Balloons for each participant; string to tie balloons to participants' ankles.

Hint: Before you hand out the balloons, make sure that no one in your group has issues with balloons or the noise they make when they pop.

Procedure: Each participant blows up a balloon and ties it to his or her ankle with the string. When the facilitator gives the signal, the participants try to break one another's balloons by stepping on them. Participants are eliminated from the game when their balloon is broken. The last person with an unbroken balloon is the winner.

Reflection Questions: What were your dominant feelings in this activity? What are the strategies you used? Did success feel like success? Why or why not?

Not-So-Knot

Procedure: Have participants stand in a circle, shoulder-to-shoulder. Each person then crosses their arms, either right over left or left over right, and joins hands with the people on either side. Make one break in the circle so that there are two loose ends. With everyone's hands tightly held and arms crossed, the challenge is to untangle the group into one continuous line. If hand-holds are broken during the exercise, the group must start over. Participants are not allowed to go underneath their own arms, do forward flips, or twist off the wrists of their fellow participants!

Reflection Questions: How many of you had an intuitive sense of how to untangle this knot? Was it hard to get the group to go along with your idea? What worked in negotiating the proposed solutions? What skills were involved? Are these skills transferable to real-world situations?

1-2-3 Line-Up

Procedure: Ask the group to form a letter or geometric shape or symbol around the facilitator. The group members then need to remember their place in relation to the facilitator. The facilitator moves, and the group recreates the same shape and orientation, saying "1-2-3, line-up!" This exercise can be used at a later date to test the group's memory. It can also be a fun way to make sure all members of a group are accounted for after a field experience.

Reflection Questions: What are the keys to success in this activity? How might this be useful with a group of younger people?

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Mirror

Procedure: Have the group divide into pairs and sit facing each other. As the partners face each other, they try to

mirror body motions and facial gestures.

Diversity:

Challenge: See if the pairs can do it so carefully that an observer can't guess who's leading.

Activities for Cultivating

Community Reflection Questions: What can we learn from this activity about observation? When might it be important to have

strong powers of observation in a service-learning activity?

Hog Call

Materials: Large space that allows for noise; blindfolds for all members of the group.

Procedure: Have group members line up in two parallel lines, facing each other. Each couple facing each other is a pair. Have all the pairs select a compound word like "signpost" or "stoplight." Each half of the pair chooses half the word as identification. Then, pair by pair, they shout out the compound words. Now blindfold all players, and have the participants move around the room, with their arms out, bent at the elbow, palms out. The challenge now is to have all the compound nouns find their other halves.

Reflection Questions: Without sight, what other senses did you rely on to find your partner? How well did this work? What other senses did you rely on more heavily? What does this teach us about physical limitations, like blindness?

All My Neighbors

Materials: Chairs, one fewer than the total number of participants, set in a circle facing inward.

Procedure: This is a "You're it!" game. One person stands in the middle of the circle, while everyone else sits in the chairs. The person who's "it" calls, "All my neighbors who..." then fills in the blank with such phrases as "are wearing black shoes"; "have been to Minnesota"; "know how to knit." Every participant who matches the description, including the person in the middle, must get up and then find a new chair quickly. The person left without a chair is the new "it." Participants cannot move to the chair on either side of the one they currently occupy.

Reflection Questions: What did it feel like to be the first out, or one of the two remaining? Did you feel this game had more to do with competition or cooperation? Why? How does this experience apply to real life?

Group Count

Hint: Be aware of physical limitations and make sure this is a challenge-by-choice activity. Participants can opt out of if they feel physically uncomfortable with the exercise.

Procedure: Ask participants to form a circle. The goal is to count to 10 by random individuals saying each number in sequence. The trick is that they must watch each other and silently figure out a strategy to accomplish the task. No words can be spoken outside of the numbers themselves. The person on either side of the one who just called a number may not call out the next number. If two people speak at the same time, the group must start again at 1.

Reflection Questions: How did you figure out a strategy to accomplish this? What skills were needed? How might this apply to other situations?

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Lap Sit Hint: Be aware of physical limitations and make sure this is a challenge-by-choice activity. Participants can opt

Diversity: out of if they feel physically uncomfortable with the exercise. Activities for Cultivating Procedure: Have everyone stand in a circle, shoulder to shoulder. Then ask everyone to turn to their right. The

facilitator can make the circle very tight by stepping into it. Once everyone is certain that the circle is perfectly

Community round, on the count of three, everyone sits down on the lap of the person behind them. It is essential that

everyone sits at the same time.

Challenge: If the group is feeling stable, try to make a right step all at once. At the end, each can give the person ahead a back rub.

Reflection Questions: Ask the group how many people they think made the largest group sit on record. (Answer: 1,306 New Zealanders in 1974.) What did it take for that to happen? How can this experience be applied to upcoming projects?

Stand Up Procedure: Divide the group into partners. Partners sit in the group, back to back, with their knees bent and elbows linked. Then, they attempt to stand up, supporting and leaning on one another.

Challenge: Once the partners are successful, have them join with another pair and attempt the same with four people.

Reflection Questions: What did you need to figure out in order to be successful? How did you do this -- by talking it through or by experimentation? What does this tell us about differences in learning styles? Can you imagine times when analyzing ahead of time is most effective? When might jumping in and experimenting be the better approach?

Community Game Hint: Use this for people who have been sitting a long time and need to get energized.

Procedure: Ask participants to form groups of the number you call out, as quickly as possible. These groups should then hold hands, or link arms. Individuals who are unable to create a group of the selected number are out of the game. Continue calling out numbers until only two people remain. The remaining two are the winners.

Stand Up/Sit Down Hint: Make the group aware that it is their choice whether they sit or stand and that they may choose to stay seated even if the answer is "yes" for them.

Procedure: Participants stand up or sit down in response to a series of questions, with standing up representing "yes" and sitting down meaning "no." Start with simple questions and then lead to more challenging ones that relate to the service-learning project. For example, you might want to start with, "Who is left-handed?" or "Who has brown eyes?"

Challenge: This exercise can become one of self-disclosure, related to the project. For example, among people who feel safe with each other, you may ask more challenging questions like: "Who has felt discriminated against based on race?" or "Who has been discriminated against based on gender?"

Reflection Questions: Processing this exercise can be as simple as, "What did you learn from this exercise about the group? What did you learn about yourself?" Add depth by talking about minority/majority status in any answer to any question, and what it feels like to be the only one standing up to a question.

From Lift: Raising the Bar for Service-Learning Practice.

Copyright ? 2010 National Youth Leadership Council. All rights reserved.

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Tangled Knot (a more difficult version of "Not-So-Knot")

Procedure: Form groups of 8-12 people, and have participants stand in circles. All the participants then extend

Diversity: their hands into the middle of the circle. Each person grasps the hand of two people across the circle. Make

sure that no two people have simply grabbed each other's hands. Without letting go of the hands, the group

Activities for Cultivating should unwind, freeing themselves of the knot and forming a circle. Grips may change and palms may pivot, but

contact must be maintained.

Community

Challenge: The initial grabbing of hands can be done with eyes closed.

Reflection Questions: What worked well in solving this problem? What didn't work as well? What might this exercise be a metaphor for? Were there a few people who did most of the talking -- if so, why?

Pair Drawing

Materials: Marker and paper for each participant, plus two flip chart pages that have been decorated with a design or picture. These decorated pages should be hidden or covered before the exercise begins.

Procedure: Have the participants form pairs and spread out across the room. Partners sit back-to-back, with one person facing the flip chart at the front of the room, and the other facing the opposite direction. Each pair needs a marker and two sheets of paper. The partner facing the front of the room will try to explain the drawing to the partner facing the back of the room WITHOUT naming the object specifically. The drawing partner will then try to replicate it based on the partner's description. (For example, a sun might be described as a big orange ball with rays emanating from it.) The person drawing may not ask any questions of the partner giving direction. After completing the first drawing, the partners compare their drawing to the original. Then the partners switch as the facilitator changes the drawing on the flip chart, and they go through the exercise again.

Challenge: Do this with geometric shapes like a rectangle overlapping a circle which has a square in it. The sighted partner can not use the terms circle, square, etc.

Reflection Questions: How hard was this? Was one of you better at describing the drawing? Was one better at interpreting the words of the describer? What was critical in direction-giving? What does this teach us about language use?

Prui (pronounced proo-ee)

Hint: You may want to use blindfolds as young people can have a hard time with the eyes-closed rule.

Procedure: Have everyone stand together with their eyes closed (or blindfolded). Quietly designate one person as the Prui, who will remain silent during the activity. Tell everyone that they will start walking about, and when they bump into someone, they are to shake the other person's hand and ask, "Prui?" The Prui will not answer, but everyone else should respond, "Prui." Participants keep walking blindly and asking, "Prui?" to those they meet. When a "Prui?" question is not answered, they know they've found the Prui, and they become a Prui as well, and may open their eyes, remaining silent when asked, "Prui?" Eventually everyone in the group will be a silent Prui.

Reflection Questions: How frustrating was this? Did you find tactics that worked? If so, what were they? How might this be like a social issue? What then makes solving a social issue difficult? (You might provide the example of the "I'm one too" button campaign of the 1970s, when lesbians and gays were first coming out, and their buttons were meant to help quietly spread the word and provide comfort to other gays and lesbians coming out.)

From Lift: Raising the Bar for Service-Learning Practice.

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